Comparison Shopping

It’s in the glove section; Compared to Playtex… In the soap section; Compared to Tide… And all over the food section; Compared to Nabisco. You name it, there is a stand out brand that everyone is trying to be like.

What seems to happen in this situation is a price grab. The customer looks at the brand name product, then sees the “compared to” label and sees the price a couple of bucks lower and grabs that one. Why? This is really not comparison shopping at all, just grabbing the cheaper product rather than comparing anything. In some cases, the product might be the same, but when a brand states on it’s packaging that it compares to another brand, a couple of things happen: 1) The brand stating they compare to another brand instantly cheapens their brand. Making them seem like they are “trying” to be better than they are. The brand might be just as good or better than who they want to compare themselves to. 2) By placing another brand name on your packaging, you are giving them more brand power. 3) Your brand just became less innovative… Why didn’t you create something different, and better.

This is a strange road to travel when developing a product. In several areas of a retail environment, there are only one or two available products of any particular SKU. So, creating a product with packaging that “compares to” the other product on the shelf, is sometimes the only reason they are there.

Some situations might allow you to get your product into the private label of the retail store. This is where you see a lot of “compared to” type of products… And a sweet-spot for your product to be in. When approaching a buyer with your product, you might consider showing how your product might look in that stores packaging. The buyer would love to see nothing more than a great product (YOUR great product) in their packaging.

BE BETTER.. Don’t you want your brand to be “that” brand? Don’t shoot for the discount shoppers. Instead, lead the pack of shoppers, and be that brand everyone chases. You can always provide a less expensive version of product for those discount stores and private label.